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Her pre-race strategy fell into place quickly, LaBerteaux said, as she edged toward the front initially and then dropped back into her comfortable running groove.

“I was nervous before the start of the race, but I’ve always felt it’s OK to do that,” she said. “I always pray with the team and the coaches before a meet and (on Saturday) I got off to a fast start among the leaders, then I backed it down.”

For the rest of the race, LaBerteaux said she ran at her own pace. At the end, she crossed the finish line and determined the impact her finish made.

“I think this will give me a lot of confidence the rest of the season,” LaBerteaux said. “I’m ready now to see what I can do on a flatter course.”

LaBerteaux said hers and her teammates’ performances were significant because the field of runners included teams from higher classifications.

“We’re 1A and there were some 4A and 5A schools there,” she said. “Cross country for us (at WCA) is very much a team sport. We all get together at the start of practice and a meet and we talk and joke around as a group. Then we go out and run.”

Conditioning for cross country, LaBerteaux said, started for her several weeks before school began. Usually LaBerteaux said she runs short sprints and then varies her distances in an area around school.

The Crusaders’ boys and girls teams are young this year, she said. Some of this year’s runners are seventh- and eighth-graders.

Personally LaBerteaux said her goal is to break 20 minutes during a meet and then compete strongly in the parish, district and state meets.